Dizziness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Dizziness
Dizzinessrefers to an impairment in spatial perception and stability.[1] It is considered imprecise.[2] It can be used to mean vertigo, presyncope, disequilibrium,[3] or a non-specific feeling such as giddiness or foolishness.[4]

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Dizziness
I CD-10 R42. (http://apps.who.int/classifications/apps/icd/icd10online/? gr40.htm+r42) 780.4 (http://www.icd9data.com/getICD9Code.ashx? icd9=780.4) DiseasesDB 17771 (http://www.diseasesdatabase.com/ddb17771.htm) eM edicine neuro/693 (http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic693.htm) M eSH D004244 (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2009/MB_cgi? field=uid& term=D004244)

I CD-9

One can induce dizziness by engaging in disorientating activities such as spinning. Vertigo is a specific medical term used to describe the sensation of spinning or having one's surroundings spin about them. Many people find vertigo very disturbing and often report associated nausea and vomiting. It represents about 25% of cases of occurrences of dizziness.[5] Disequilibrium is the sensation of being off balance, and is most often characterized by frequent falls in a specific direction. This condition is not often associated with nausea or vomiting. Presyncope is lightheadedness, muscular weakness and feeling faint as opposed to a syncope, which is actually fainting. Non-specific dizziness is often psychiatric in origin. It is a diagnosis of exclusion and can sometimes be brought about by hyperventilation.[4] A stroke is the cause of isolated dizziness in 0.7% of people who present to the emergency room.[5]

Contents
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1 Classification 2 Differential diagnosis 3 Mechanism 4 Epidemiology 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Classification
Dizziness is broken down into 4 main subtypes: vertigo (~50%), disequilibrium (less than ~15%), presyncope (less than ~15%) and lightheadedness (~10%).[6]

Differential diagnosis
Many conditions are associated with dizziness. However, the most common subcategories can be broken down as follows: 40% peripheral vestibular dysfunction, 10% central nervous system lesion, 15% psychiatric disorder, 25% presyncope/dysequilibrium, and 10% nonspecific dizziness.[7] The medical conditions that often have dizziness as a symptom include:[7][8][9][10] Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo Meniere's disease Vestibular neuronitis Labyrinthitis Otitis media Acoustic neuroma Chronic motion sickness Ramsay Hunt syndrome Migraine Multiple sclerosis pregnancy low blood pressure (hypotension) low blood oxygen content (hypoxemia) iron deficiency (anemia) low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) hormonal changes (e.g., thyroid disease, menstruation, pregnancy)

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panic disorder hyperventilation anxiety depression age-diminished visual, balance, and perception of spatial orientation abilities

M echanism
Many conditions cause dizziness because multiple parts of the body are required for maintaining balance including the inner ear, eyes, muscles, skeleton, and the nervous system.[9] Common physiological causes of dizziness include: inadequate blood supply to the brain due to: a sudden fall in blood pressure[9] heart problems or artery blockages[9] loss or distortion of vision or visual cues[9] disorders of the inner ear[9] distortion of brain/nervous function by medications such as anticonvulsants and sedatives[9]

Epidemiology
About 2030% of the population report to have experienced dizziness at some point in the previous year.[5]

See also
Motion sickness Balance disorder Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome Equilibrioception The spins, a state of dizziness and disorientation due to intoxication Coriolis effect (perception)

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References
1. ^ "dizziness (http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_dorlands_split.jsp? pg=/ppdocs/us/common/dorlands/dorland/three/000031973.htm) " at Dorland's Medical Dictionary 2. ^ MeSH Dizziness (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2011/MB_cgi? mode=& term=Dizziness) 3. ^ Reeves, Alexander G., Swenson, Rand S. (2008). "Chapter 14: Evaluation of the Dizzy Patient" (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dons/part_2/chapter_14.html#chpt_14_presyncope) . Disorders of the Nervous System: A Primer (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dons/index.html) . Dartmouth Medical School. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dons/part_2/chapter_14.html#chpt_14_presyncope. 4. ^ a b Branch, Jr, William T., Barton, Jason (February 10, 2011). "Approach to the patient with dizziness" (http://www.uptodate.com/contents/approach-to-the-patient-withdizziness) . UpToDate. http://www.uptodate.com/contents/approach-to-the-patient-withdizziness. 5. ^ a b c Neuhauser HK, Lempert T (November 2009). "Vertigo: epidemiologic aspects". Semin Neurol 29 (5): 47381. doi:10.1055/s-0029-1241043 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1055% 2Fs-0029-1241043) . PMID 19834858 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19834858) . 6. ^ Post RE, Dickerson LM (August 2010). "Dizziness: a diagnostic approach". Am Fam Physician 82 (4): 3618, 369. PMID 20704166 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20704166) . 7. ^ a b Chan Y (June 2009). "Differential diagnosis of dizziness". Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 17 (3): 2003. doi:10.1097/MOO.0b013e32832b2594 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FMOO.0b013e32832b2594) . PMID 19365263 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19365263) . 8. ^ Tusa RJ (March 2009). "Dizziness". Med. Clin. North Am. 93 (2): 26371, vii. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2008.09.005 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.mcna.2008.09.005) . PMID 19272508 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19272508) . 9. ^ a b c d e f g "Dizziness and Vertigo" (http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec08/ch084/ch084e.html?qt=dizziness& alt=sh) . Merck Manual. 2009. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec08/ch084/ch084e.html? qt=dizziness& alt=sh. 10. ^ Bronstein AM, Lempert T (2010). "Management of the patient with chronic dizziness". Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. 28 (1): 8390. doi:10.3233/RNN-2010-0530 (http://dx.doi.org/10.3233%2FRNN-2010-0530) . PMID 20086285 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20086285) .

External links

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Dizzytimes.com (http://www.dizzytimes.com/) Online Community for Sufferers of Vertigo and Dizziness Dysautonomia Youth Network of America, Inc. (http://www.dynakids.org) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizziness" Categories: Neurological disorders | Otology | Symptoms and signs: Cognition, perception, emotional state and behaviour This page was last modified on 21 August 2011 at 05:21. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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